Just a short quote today. It's taken from a book published in the 1840's. One of those things called a dictionary but which are really more like an encyclopedia.

The Ale and Beer entry has some nice statistics which sucked me in. The mention of Scottish beer came as a bonus:

"The brewing of ale has long constituted a principal, or rather, perhaps, we might say the principal, manufacturing employment carried on in Edinburgh, The best Edinburgh ale is of a pale colour, mild, glutinous, and adhesive. It is much stronger and more intoxicating than porter, from 4 to 5 bushels of malt being generally used in brewing a barrel of ale, with about 1 lb. of hops to a bushel of malt. At present (1843) the produce of the ale breweries of Edinburgh may be estimated at about 195,000 barrels a year. Very good ale is also made at Preston Pans, Alloa, and other Scotch towns. Considerable quantities of Edinburgh ale are sent to London; though this trade has latterly been decreasing. Very good ale may be produced by brewers on a small scale, but it is doubtful whether this be the case with porter; at all events the best porter is all produced in very large establishments.

Formerly it was not supposed that really good porter could be made any where except in London. Of late years, however, Dublin porter has attained to high and hot unmerited reputation; though we certainly are not of the number of those who ronsider it equal to the best London porter.

Large quantities of a light, pale, and highly-hopped variety of ale have been for some considerable time past exported to the East Indies, where it is in high estimation; and is now, also, rather extensively used in summer in this country."
"A Dictionary, Practical, Theoretical, and Historical, of Commerce and Commercial Navigation" by John Ramsay McCulloch, 1844, page 9.

I'm particularly pleased to see a har figure put on the output of Edinburgh breweries. 195,000 barrels isn't a great deal, really. Not considering the fame of Edinburgh beer. Though it is a considerable percentage of the beer brewed in Scotland, which was around 500,000 barrrels a year in the 1840's.

Small beer indeed, compared to the big boys in London. The two largest each produced about the same as the whole of Scotland. Brewing was still on a relatively modest scale in Scotland in the first half of the 19th century. It was only in the latter decades that the big Edinburgh and Alloa brewers were able to rival the large London producers.

Here are the alrgest London brewers of the same period:

Barrels of beer brewed used by the largest London brewers

Brewer

1831

1838

1839

1840

1841

1842

1851

Barclay & Co.

388,792

429,820

449,104

462,244

425,380

456,360

462,168

Truman & Co.

202,896

360,560

364,276

392,840

352,528

369,876

420,088

Whitbread & Co.

198,852

181,840

207,916

214,488

207,368

208,392

207,200

Reid & Co.

173,520

179,712

176,040

192,520

191,920

200,480

226,560

Combe & Co.

138,736

173,776

162,848

153,472

145,840

185,936

173,128

Calvert & Co.

122,100

126,116

124,112

123,488

122,460

122,640

114,552

Meux & Co.

97,356

140,260

153,860

163,148

158,332

161,360

238,468

Hoare & Co.

96,408

125,112

124,032

121,240

117,800

118,428

140,000

Elliott & Co.

77,776

88,000

91,960

101,020

101,100

108,200

118,232

Taylor & Co.

87,380

109,280

103,820

109,200

149,200

78,120

63,480

Goding & Co.

65,228

58,524

52,256

Charrington & Co.

42,120

81,160

74,752

73,312

73,312

81,692

84,064

Courage & Co.

32,464

42,892

41,824

46,128

46,128

52,064

57,876

Thorne & Co.

5,780

83,384

88,088

Mann & Co.

5,208

46,616

96,120

Total

1,734,616

2,038,528

2,074,544

2,153,100

2,279,892

2,143,548

2,542,280

Sources:

1831, 1841 and 1851:The food of London by George Dodd, 1856, page 463.

The description of Edinburgh Ale isn't bad: "pale colour, mild, glutinous, and adhesive." Pretty gloopy stuff then. Not surprising when you see the final gravity of these beers.

Prestonpans is another of those obscure brewing towns. Its fame seems to have relies pretty much on a single brewer: Fowler. In a way, the memory of Prestonpans does remain. Fowler was, of course, the brewer of as certain beer called "Fowler's Wee Heavy". The beer that gave us that rather irritating beer style. Prestonpans beer, from the analyses I've seen, was even more syrupy than Edinburgh Ale.

I though I may as well continue the quote past the Scottish stuff because of the bit about IPA. And how it was drunk in Britian during the summer. Not particularly surprising, but I've not seen it mentioned before.

Thursday, 29 September 2011

You know the story. Brewers in the exotic Highlands of Scotland using peat to kiln their malt. I've never believed a word of it. People mixing up whisky and beer. Fun in a glass, annoying on the page.

It wasn't just for your amusement and delight that I compiled that map of Scottish breweries in 1837. I wanted to get a feel for where Scottish breweries were locates and concentrated. It worked even better than I had anticipated. The picture is unmistakable.

Guess where this is going? I quickly searched the web for two companion maps. One showing the distribution of peat in Scotland, the other showing the coalfields. Looking at the three maps together is very revealing

Do you see what I mean? The vast majority of breweries are in areas where there's little or no peat. But slap on top of Scotland's coal fields.

Why the hell would they drag bulky, soggy, stinky peat into central Scotland when there was all that coal?

This is a very special day. Not just because this is actually appearing on a Wednesday. It's more to do with the beer: Younger's No. 3. A beer I've a special relationship with.

I did once homebrew, when I was young. I started before I was even of legal drinking age. Being broke, there was a big incentive to homebrew. Which, as I recall, was our real motivation. By we, I mean me and my brother Dave.

One of our earliest brews was a clone of Younger's No. 3 that had been published in What's Brewing. At the time, it wasn't available commercially. It was during one of several periods when the beer had been discontinued by Scottish and Newcastle. The clone recipe used black malt for colour. It helped hide the malt extract base twang. Overall, one of our better brews.

I've since had the commercial version many times. It was always my favourite of Scottish and Newcastle's cask beers. I didn't initially realise the history of No. 3 and its role in Scottish brewing. I feel privileged to have had it in the wild.

Some of you have probably tried No. 3, too. If you have, this recipe might come as a shock. Because if there's one thing that was distinctive about No. 3 it was the colour. A lovely dark brown. Whereas this one is . . . . pale.

Scotch Ale. Yes, this is a genuine Scotch Ale. Though it was usually just called Strong Ale in Scotland. Sometime in the 1850's, William Younger overhauled their beer range. introducing loads of new products. Most notable was a range of numbered Ales, from 1 to 4. They seem to have been inspired by the numbered Burton ales of Bass and others. No. 1 was a powerful brew, with a gravity of 1099º. Working down the range, No. 2 was 1088º, No. 3 was 1077º and No. 4 was 1068º. No .1 was marketed in England as Scotch Ale, but could easily have been called a Barley Wine.

From the outset, the more moderate-strength No. 3 was the most popular of the four. Continuing through war, crisis and recession, right up to the present day. While the name might have stayed the same, the beer underneath didn't. Like most other Ales (I'm not including Pale Ale in this) it underwent a mysterious change in colour sometime towards the end of the 19th century. And moved from pale to dark.

If I've so many Younger's records, why am I so vague about the date? Because, they continued to brew their beers pale, colouring them later as required. How can I be so sure then that these beers were indeed dark in colour? Because of those oh-so-handy Gravity Books, which often give the colour. It was a reasonably common beer in London in the first half of the 20th century, where it took Burton's place in a pub's draught lineup.

Like all British beers, the gravity was nibbled away in the 20th century. It fell to about 1053º between the wars. By 1966, it was 1045º and in 1982 1042º.

This beer tells us so much about British brewing. About the links between Burton and Edinburgh beers. And how hard it is to pin a specific style label on many beers of the past. What is No. 3? A Scotch Ale? A Burton Ale? A Strong Ale? The answer is, it's all three. (Maybe that's why it's called number three.)

And on that confusing note, it's over to Kristen . . . . . . . .

Kristen’s Version:

Another very short explanation. What the Youngers logs have in extraordinary details for their brewing, all of the beers are very very simple. So, on to this awesome double IPA thing. A wee heavy little beastie indeed!

IngredientsGrist – I haven’t used Golden Promise in quite a long time so I decided it was about time. You can absolutely use Maris Otter or really any other wonderful Englishy malt you’d like. I have come to really like two very different types of pale malts. My very favorite is the MFB pale malt. I’ve found that if you had to have one single malt to do really absolutely anything in the realm of beer, this would be more than adequate. Bitter, IPA, Pils, etc. On the other end of the spectrum, my other favorite malt for different reasons (mostly cost and its ability to play second fiddle extremely well) is Great Western pale malt. You’ll find a massive amount of American breweries use it for everything. I think it is very nice and does a great job, just not as good at everything that the MFB pale malt.

Hops – This beer, as can be seen, is about 3:1 or 4:1 Czech: English hops. The English ones can really be anything but I’d stay with a low alpha variety for the amount of greenery you need to add in. As for the Czech, I used 100% Saaz. Czech Saaz at that. Pivní Filosof, Evan Rail, Alistair Reece and I had a great conversation just a week or so ago about the ability to make a big hoppy beer using 100% Czech Saaz. This is pretty much that beer. The thought is/was that one can’t do it. You just can’t get that bitterness. This, is entirely untrue. What you will find is that the bitterness is very different. Its much less harsh. Additionally, I find the aroma is much much higher on this beer (all low AA% hop IPAs even) simply due to the fact of the vast amount of hop that goes in. More essential oils and such. If you need another reason to make this beer, do so for that fact. A big, crisp, dry IPA thingy with a butte tonne of low alpha hops.

Yeast – I really like the dry Nottingham for this beer. It dries out extremely well. Finishes quick. Its cheap! That being said, use what you like. A yeast cake would be good for those of you that don’t do starters well. Its very important you get enough yeast into this bugger to dry it out.

In total there were more than 500 breweries in Scotland (if you include the 90 Table Beer breweries). The list below contains 275. My guess is that it includes most of those brewing more than 1,000 barrels and the majority of those brewing between 100 and 1,000 barrels.

You can easily spot the important brewing centres: Alloa, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, Forfar and Glasgow. Mostly pretty obvious, as they are Scotland's larger cities. Except for Alloa and Forfar, obviously.

The breweries are mostly concentrated around the centre of the Lowlands and the East Coast. It'll be more clear when I publish the map tomorrow. As will be the gaping hole. I'm sure you can guess where that is.

Scottish breweries in 1837

brewery

address

town

Knox Robert & Son

Cambus

Alloa

Maclay James

Mills' brewery

Alloa

McNellan John

Shore

Alloa

Meiklejohn Robert & Son

Candle st

Alloa

Mitchell William

High st

Alloa

Paterson Thomas Lucas

Forth Bank Brewery

Alloa

Roy Andrew

Alloa brewery

Alloa

Syme John H.

Hatton park

Alloa

Towers and Co.

Grange

Alloa

Younger George

New Market st

Alloa

Aitchison John & Co

South back of Canongate

Edinburgh

Aitken Robert William

Meadow Bank

Edinburgh

Alexander and Co.

North back of Canongate

Edinburgh

Anderson Stephen

Barrowloch

Edinburgh

Barker Thomas

8 Yard heads, L.

Leith

Bell, Kier & Co.

46 Pleasance

Edinburgh

Berwick Alex & Co.

Gentle's close

Edinburgh

Black & McNair

11 St. Anthony st, Leith

Leith

Blair John

23 North back of Canongate

Edinburgh

Brown George Bell

71 North back of Canongate

Edinburgh

Campbell Archibald & Co.

45 Cowgate

Edinburgh

Cowpar Thomas & Son

Drumdryan

Edinburgh

Cunningham James D.

195 Cowgate

Edinburgh

Dick Peter

Robertson's close Cowgate

Edinburgh

Donald Ryrie

Horse wynd

Edinburgh

Drybrough Andrew

North back of Canongate

Edinburgh

Edinburgh & Leith Brewing Co.

Playhouse close

Edinburgh

Fulton John

80 Pleasance

Edinburgh

Henderson & King

69 Constitution st, L.

Leith

Kerr James

9 Sciennes st

Edinburgh

Kidd John

6 St. Anthony st. Leith

Leith

Kinghorn Alexander

Coburg st. L.

Leith

Lamond Peter & Sons

23 Grass market

Edinburgh

Mackenzie Robert Hall

24 Sheriff brae

Edinburgh

Maitland, Davidson & Co.

Meadow bank

Edinburgh

Miller John

6 Hay st

Edinburgh

Mitchell Jamen Peter

Main point Brewery, 3 Lauriston st

Edinburgh

Muir John

28 North back of Canongate

Edinburgh

Napier George & Co.

28 Abbey hill

Edinburgh

Rennie Thomas

15 Yard heads

Edinburgh

Ryrle Donald & Co

Croft an righ

Edinburgh

Scottish Brewery Co.

Gt. Junction st—,

Edinburgh

Usher & Cunningham

101 Cowgate

Edinburgh

Usher James

71 Potter row

Edinburgh

Young Richd

South back of Canongate

Edinburgh

Younger Wm. & Co.

Horse wynd, Canongate

Edinburgh

Archibald Thomas

New Mills road

Dalkeith

Robinson William

Back st.

Dalkeith

Lorimer A. P.

132 High st

Musselburgh

Whitelaw William

High st

Fisherrow

Black Wm & Co.

Devanha Brewery

Aberdeen

Cadenhead, Barron & Co

New Bridge

Aberdeen

Cowie Alexander

Virginia st

Aberdeen

Duguid Mary

Hardgate

Aberdeen

Duthie Wm

Holborn st

Aberdeen

Gillcomston Brewery Co.

Gilcomston

Aberdeen

Gordon George & Co

Ferry Hill

Aberdeen

Hatt John Ligonier

47 Virginia st and Peacock's Close

Aberdeen

Lawrence James

Skene square

Aberdeen

Livingston Peter

Shuttle lane

Aberdeen

McCulloch hugh (retail)

Maltmill

Aberdeen

Masson John

82 Loch st

Aberdeen

Sim Alexander & James

22 Loch st

Aberdeen

Still Patrick

South Bridge

Aberdeen

Thom Robert

King st

Aberdeen

Wallace Andres

Auchmull

Aberdeen

Anderson Philip & Co

Inverury

Hutchison Robert

Charlotte st

Peterhead

Mudle George

Invernettle

Peterhead

Crawford Catherine

29 High st

Ayr

Cuthbart Jane, Main st

Newton

Ayr

Davidson Anne

72 High st

Ayr

Guthrie Charles

40 High st

Ayr

Watson and Brown

Mill st

Ayr

Paxton George

Richard land

Kilmarnock

Thomson George

Grange st

Kilmarnock

Elliot Edward

Silver st

Berwick

Pratt & Crossman

Silver st

Berwick

Sibbitt, Dickinson & Co.

Tweemouth

Berwick

Davidson John

Coldstream

Joppling Thomas

Coldstream

Russell William

Coldstream

Ramsay John

Blackbull st

Dunse

White George

Clock Mill

Dunse

Whitelaw Robert Hay

Market place

Dunse

Gass and Hope, Annan Brewery

Port st

Annan

Corson George

Irish st

Dumfries

McBarney Thomas

Galloway st, Maxwelltown

Dumfries

Morrison James

Irish st

Dumfries

Murray Robert, Old Brewery

Buccleugh st

Dumfries

Shortridge James

61 Galloway st, Maxwelltown

Dumfries

Whaley Richard

White sands

Dumfries

Young Alexander & James

The College

Elgin

Urquhart & McDonald

Forres mills

Forres

Taylor & Co.

High st

Anstruther

Mitchell John

Bonargate

Cupar

Philip John

Bobber wynd

Cupar

Thomson and Son

Lady wynd

Cupar

Auld Robert

High st

Dunfermline

Douglas John

St. Margaret st

Dunfermline

Stenhouse James

Queen Ann st

Dunfermline

Skinner Robert & James

New town

Falkland

Keay John

Ferry-Port-on-Craig

Patrick James

Leuchars

Robertson Andrew

Kinghorn

Kinghorn

Stocks John

West bridge

Kinghorn

Fergas Henry

Links

Kirkcaldy

Keddle John

Links

Kirkcaldy

Berwick David

South st

St. Andrews

Ireland Rea

Argyle

St. Andrews

Baillie John

Market gate

Arbroath

Harry George

Maule st

Arbroath

Lindsay John

St. Vigean's

Arbroath

Lyall David

Newgate

Arbroath

Mill William

Spink st

Arbroath

Sheriff George

South Grimsby

Arbroath

Brown Jane

East Haven

Barrie

Crighton Alexander

West Haven

Barrie

Warden Robert

Carnoustie

Barrie

Baxter James

North port brewery

Brechin

Smith John

Cadger wynd

Brechin

Butchart Andrew

12 Seagate

Dundee

Butchart Thomas

McCosh's entry

Dundee

Gilruth James

Bonnet hill

Dundee

Kinmond John

Seagate

Dundee

Miller David & Charles

Perth road

Dundee

Rattray Thomas

Bell st

Dundee

Sinclair Alexander

Fenton's close

Dundee

Ure Peter

Hawk hill brewery

Dundee

Crichton Jeam

King st

Dundee

Easson Robert

Bucklemakers wynd

Dundee

Elder Andre

1 George's place

Dundee

Elder Samuel

Castle lane

Dundee

Ferguson James

Seagate

Dundee

Low David

St Clement's lane

Dundee

Martin Alexander

130 Seagate

Dundee

Matthew Janet

Overgate

Dundee

Miller James

Park wynd

Dundee

Ramsay David

Scouringburn

Dundee

Robertson Alexander

Cowgate

Dundee

Ross Donald

Constable st

Dundee

Waddel James

Liff

Dundee

Wedderspoon Blair

Seagate

Dundee

Whatton Helen

72 Seagate

Dundee

Barry James

Back wynd

Forfar

Keay James

High st

Forfar

Milne James

Back wynd

Forfar

Mitchell David

High st

Forfar

Morris James

Castle st

Forfar

Potter William

High st

Forfar

Reid John & Peter

Spout st

Forfar

Stark David

High st

Forfar

Montrose Brewery Company

Academy place

Montrose

Potter James

Hill st

Montrose

Ross William and Co.

Loch side

Montrose

Stewart John

Bridge st

Montrose

Muckart John

Ferry st

Montrose

Brown John

Lamar st

Dunbar

Dudgeon Ellis

Belhaven brewery

Dunbar

Martine John, Jun.

Sidegate

Haddington

Shiells William

West port

Haddington

Walker John

Nungate

Haddington

Fowler John

Prestonpans

Hislop Robert

Prestonpans

Caledonian Brewery Company

Haugh

Inverness

Fraser Alexander & Co.

Fraser st

Inverness

Fraser Donald

8 Glebe st

Inverness

Loban William

Thornbush

Inverness

Mculloch John

Kinross

Kinross

Morison Thomas

Milnathort

Kinross

Baird Hugh & Co.

Gt.Canal Brewery

Glasgow

Ballantine William

57 Crown st

Glasgow

Connell E.

Struthers st

Glasgow

Dickson James

35 Tureen st

Glasgow

Duncan John

Port Dundas road

Glasgow

Ferguson & Stevenson

72 Centre st

Glasgow

Forrest George

Clyde st,Anderston

Glasgow

Gibson Matthew, Anderston brewery

Warwick street

Glasgow

Hedderwick A.

22 Buchan st

Glasgow

Hedderwick John Watt, Adelphi brewery

Govan street

Glasgow

Hunter J. & R.

23 Montrose st

Glasgow

Johnston James

23 & 25 Stirling st

Glasgow

McNiven & Johnston

49 Cowcaddens street

Glasgow

Ramsay A. & J.

32 South Cobourg st

Glasgow

Scott Wm.

1 Duncan st, Canning st

Glasgow

Stewart John

Commercial road

Glasgow

Struthers Robert and Sons

Greenhead brewery

Glasgow

Tennent John and Robert

Westpark, Duke street

Glasgow

Towers J.C. & Co. (of Alloa)

1.5 Melville place

Glasgow

Wilson John

3 Melville place

Glasgow

Hutchison Robert

Wellgate

Lanark

Murray & Kilgour

North vennel

Lanark

Armour Robert

Strathaven

Masterton John

Strathaven

Vallance Robert

Strathaven

Adamson James

Tweed Green

Peebles

Robertson Adam

Cuddy Bridge

Peebles

Scott John

St. Michael's wynd

Peebles

Mailler Joseph

Auchterarder

Auchterarder

Sharp Robert jun.

Blackford

Auchterarder

Thomson & Garbols

Ruthven bank

Auchterarder

McDougal John

Mitchell st

Crieff

Portreous David

Coldwell

Crieff

Menzies Jno.

St.Catherine's brewery

Perth

Morison James

Canal st

Perth

Scott Matthew

Canal st

Perth

Simpson James

Canal st

Perth

Taylor Thomas

Bridge end

Perth

Wright John & Co.

18 Methven st

Perth

Buchanan David & Co.

Holmscroft Brewery

Greenock

Greenock Brewery Co.

Nicholson st

Greenock

Watt James & Co.

Cartadyke

Greenock

M'Dougal John

East Line, Ferguslie

Paisley

Middleton James, Laxwell brewery

Millerston

Paisley

Sacell Brewery Compy.

Saucel

Paisley

Finlayson Thomas

Lower st

Tain

McKenzie & Gallie

Morangle

Tain

Tulloch Amdrew

Murray st

Tain

Reid John & Co.

Canongate

Jedburgh

Wight Thomas

High st

Jedburgh

Nichol & Robertson

Ednam

Kelso

Aitken James & Co.

New Market st

Falkirk

Smith Robert

High st

Falkirk

Connal Ebenezer

Port st

Stirling

Anderon Samuel

Kinglassie

Wilson Robert

Lochgellie

Jackson Alexander

John's-Haven

Howieson William

West port

Linlithgow

Philip Agnes

Ceres

Anderson William

Airdrie Brewery

Airdrie

George James

Mills of Keith

Keith

Finlayson Henry

Dollar

Hewetson James

Queen st

Castle Douglas

McDonald Alexander

Aberfeldie

Lobban George

Grant St

Cullen

Hewetson George

Devol's glen

Port Glasgow

Scott Thomas

Pitlessie

Watson Alexander

Church st

Portsoy

Kinnear Alexander

Cowle Brewery

Bridge of Cowle

Fraser Donald

Church st

Dingwall

Campbell Donald

McCulloch's close

Dingwall

Bertram Alexander

North Berwick Brewery

North Berwick

Pearson John

Chapel lane

Bathgate

McLaurin Ludovic

Newton-Stewart

Cunningham William

Athelstaneford

Haldane John

Buckholm side

Galashiels

Manson Alex

Old Meldrum

Edington James

Wemyss

Scott James

Pierhead

Kirriemuir

Lowdon Isabella

Skinner Hill

Kirriemuir

Bell James

Biggar

Irving John

Bridge st

Lockerbie

Henderson James

Pulteney distillery

Wick

Chalmers Walter

Langholm

Ballingall

Back st.

Leven

Forrest James

Greenhead

Hamilton

Mackie Andrew

St. Monance

Pittenweem

Wardrop John

Wallace st

Galston

Scott William

Swinton

Greenshield Alex

St Germain st

Catrine in Sorn

Wilson David

Newburgh

Haldane John

Water row

Selkirk

Rolland John

Newtown, Westport

Kincardine

Wood James

High st

Kirkintilloch

Laing Alexander

High st

Dumbarton

Gray David

Irvine Brewery

Irvine

Tyrie John

High st

Blairgowrie

Watt William

Raise st

Saltcoats

Bridge Andre

Path-head

Dysart

McDonald William

Huntly

Greenfield Margaret

Coldingham

Borland John

New st

Beith

Moncur James

Hill st

Dunkeld

Hood James

Strand st

Stranraer

McKenzie Peter

Dunning

Source:

Pigot and co.'s national commercial directory of the whole of Scotland, 1837